New York is confusing. There, I’ve said it! I can’t tell you how much time I spent as a teen trying to memorize all the neighborhoods while dreaming of moving here. Personally, I think the problem is that most neighborhood maps don’t include streets so until I moved here, I thought there was some flexibility on boundaries. Maybe there are for some, especially when you get into sub-neighborhoods (a concept created by real estate developers to sound exclusive btw) however there are hard lines and/or landmarks that define most Manhattan neighborhoods. If you’re interested, you can find a super detailed chart here. Complicating matters are the boroughs that kind of act like counties however we’re all in the same actual county… its a mess. Long Island City is a totally separate place from Long Island (so no, not like Oklahoma and Oklahoma City), Brooklyn is a neighborhood however also its own city somehow like if you live there your postal address is Brooklyn, NY and they have their own city hall? So I’ve made some charts and maps for reference if you’re looking to unscramble this bamboozling location situation. If you’re looking for a professional quick look at each area, check out this nicely done list.
